Criminalizing Education: Zero Tolerance Policies, Police in the Hallways and The School to Prison Pipeline

In the past decade, there has been a growing convergence between schools and legal systems. The school to prison pipeline refers to this growing pattern of tracking students out of educational institutions, primarily via “zero tolerance” policies, and , directly and/or indirectly, into the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. The school to prison pipeline has emerged in the larger context of media hysteria over youth violence and the mass incarceration that characterize both the juvenile and adult legal systems. While the school to prison pipeline is facilitated by a number of trends in education, it is most directly attributable to the expansion of zero tolerance policies. These policies have had no measurable impact on school safety, but have racially disproportionate effects, increase suspensions and expulsions, elevate the drop-out rate, and raise multiple legal issues of due process. A growing critique of these policies has lead to calls for reform and alternatives.